Five for the price of one is the sort of offer you don’t find beyond your wildest dreams but that’s what you get at Murrays of Clevedon. Restaurant, wine shop, delicatessen, bakery and wine bar - five strings on a bow that has played all the Italian classics since 1984.
Murrays has come a long way since it was opened as a small Italian food store serving a few discerning Clevedon locals. Almost 40 years on and this family-run business enjoys a national reputation for its restaurant, as well as the adjoining delicatessen, wine shop and bakery.
Owner John Murray and his sons have somewhat consolidated the Clevedon business in recent years. It once occupied a second building on Hill Road but it’s now under one roof of a former antiques shop a short walk from the seafront.
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Born to an Italian mother and Scottish father, John Murray grew up eating home-cooked food that was always more Mediterranean than British and this love of Italian cooking has been passed down to his own children and now their own kids. Provenance is key to the food at Murrays, whether that means the best West Country meat and fish or lemons from Amalfi and ham from Parma.
Much of what appears on the restaurant menus is sold in the elegant delicatessen next door. For food lovers leaving the restaurant via the delicatessen, it’s like exiting through a mouthwatering gift shop where you want to buy everything you see, smell or taste.
The pizzas at Murrays are the stuff of local legend. Made using top quality local flour, San Marzano tomatoes and Fior di Latte mozzarella, they include the Con Mortadella (buffalo mozzarella, pistachio mortadella ham and rosemary oil) and the Siciliano (tomato, mozzarella, fresh red chillies, garlic and picante salami). With these 12-inch pizzas ranging from £9.50 for the Margherita to £16 for the Con Pesce (tomato, mozzarella, brown anchovies, capers and green olives), they certainly give pizza chains a run for their money on price but the quality is much greater.
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At lunchtime, there is also a concise menu of sandwiches - all served on the sea salt focaccia bread made on the premises every morning. These include Rosemary ham, Westcombe Cheddar and chutney, and hummus with rocket and Italian roast peppers.
The main menu, served lunchtime and in the evening, has broad appeal and offers plenty of choice. There were half a dozen starters and eight main courses on the Saturday lunchtime I visited.
Of the dishes I didn’t get to try on this occasion, there was a starter of whole smoked crevettes with an Amalfi lemon, caper and herb mayonnaise and a pasta dish of orzo with pesto, potato, summer greens and Parmesan. There were also main courses of slow-braised spiced beef short rib with pancetta, button mushrooms, chips and salsa verde, and pan-fried fillet of line-caught Weymouth Bay red gurnard in a coconut, lemongrass, leek and cream velouté with sautéed new potatoes, spiced butternut squash and summer greens.
I started with a plate of Capacolla (£8.75) - thin slices of intensely flavoured dry-cured pork neck with ribbons of the sweetest fat. The ruby red charcuterie was served with creamy buffalo mozzarella, smoky roast Italian peppers and crostini.
To follow, citrus marinated local Kenn Moor pork chop (£23.50) was perfectly cooked and a far cry from the dry, leathery chops I recall from childhood. There was a light citrus edge to the meat, which was charred on the outside and juicy within.
The pork was served with a cricket ball-sized potato croquette and a tangle of roasted Italian courgettes, red peppers and red onions brought together with a light but deep-flavoured rosemary jus. It was a fantastic dish.
Desserts have always been a strongpoint at Murrays. They also follow the seasons and include English strawberry and Amaretto semifreddo with strawberry cream, shortbread and candied lemon, and homemade clotted cream gelato.
As a card-carrying member of the Trifle Appreciation Society, there was only one dessert I was interested in. The Murrays trifle is a delicious Italian version with layers of Amaretto soaked sponge, Italian peach, creme Anglaise, whipped cream, mint and candied nuts - on a boiling hot August lunchtime, it was a true taste of Italy transported to the North Somerset coast and the end of a meal that ranks as one of the best I’ve had all year.
Murrays, 91 Hill Road, Clevedon, BS21 7PN. Tel: 01275 341222.
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